Have you ever thought about starting your own business? Of course you have but what would you sell? How would you sell it? Most importantly how long before you make any money? Well if you have some basic woodworking skills and tools you might be interested in checking out the website www.Eureka-Business.com. The company provides nearly everything needed to get an outdoor furniture business started almost instantly.
All of the producer packages not only include all the needed Western Red Cedar and stainless steel hardware but also included assembly jigs, cutting templates as well as marketing material and business support. The initial investment is at minimum still over $7000 plus any additional tools and supplies you might need. Not exactly pocket change but if you look at their Do The Math estimates on time invested in each piece and what you might expect to sell the items for it looks pretty reasonable you could recoup the initial investment fairly quickly. We also thought it was very positive that the Eureka community has an active web forum and annual get togethers to support one another.
Several weeks back we received the Evaluation Kit ($149, Eureka) and got really excited to rip into it and build some furniture. Unfortunately, for us, the kit is mostly already assembled and with a few screws the Adirondack Chair was complete. The evaluation kit is more to get a good feel for the quality of materials and perhaps a better sense of what the end products might look like in person. It will also be a nice place for your wife to sit down before you tell her you plan on dropping a few grand to start a new woodworking business. Check out more pictures of the evaluation kit in this Album & watch the video interview from Woodworker’s Journal below.
Obviously this sort of business is not for everyone but if it looks like something you would be interested in we would encourage you to review their website to get more information about how the company got started, producer testimonials, pictures of products and all that good stuff. Once you have been through the site they do encourage everyone to call their toll free number 877-731-9303 to answer any remaining questions the website didn’t answer.
If you are curious what kind of tools you might need to get started, here is a peek at what is in Harry’s (Eureka President) home garage workshop as far as tools go. It’s a fair sized shop 22×25’ not huge but he says it has worked fine for producing hundreds of large furniture pieces over the years.
Equipment list:
– Contractor or larger table saw; at least 1-1/2hp; 10" blade size: Used for ripping stock to proper specified widths
– Chop/Miter saw: Used for cutting stock to length and proper angles
– Larger band saw, at least 14” & 3/4hp: Used for cutting parts with Back and T-Jig; cutting template parts
– Dust collection unit: Used for collecting wood sawdust, optional.
– Drum Sander: Used for production sanding of all parts, optional.
– Drill Press: Used to drill and counter sink parts, optional
– Combination pneumatic balloon and flap sander; at least 1 hp: Used for cleaning up kerf marks and edges of all parts, optional.
– Portable drill/driver; at least l2v: Used for drilling, counter sink and driving screws
– Router; at least 1-1/2hp with 1/2" collet: Used for rounding over parts where necessary
– Oscillating sander: Used oscillating sander for touch up, etc.
